Where the River Narrows

Book excerpt: For many Loyalists during the American War for Independence, the perilous journey to Canada is just the beginning of a long and arduous struggle to find a new home and a new life amid the upheavals of war and separation, death and privation. For Elisabeth Van Alen, it also means finding new strength and the will to survive in a new country. Married to Gerrit, an educated Mohawk warrior, she is filled with fears when he must go away shortly before the American rebels force her and her family out of their ancestral home. Thankfully Gerrit finds her fleeing through the forest with their Mohawk friends and helps her reach Kanien’kehá:ka, the Mohawk territory in Quebec. Coming to a log cabin tucked away on a wooded island in Montreal is a great shock for Elisabeth after the life she had known in the comfortable house where she had been born. Undaunted, she takes on the tasks of pioneer women and keeps her family together while waiting anxiously to hear from Gerrit who has returned to complete his assigned task. Against his will, Gerrit is recruited by the British Army for a special mission. Elisabeth suffers losses and joys, upheavals and peacefulness and her love grows for her adopted country where being married to a Mohawk is regarded as normal.